Over the week of September 20-24th, Onslow’s talented musicians represented the school at at MEFA (Musicworks Ensemble Festival Aotearoa), a fantastic week-long music festival hosted at Wellington College. Open to bands, orchestras, jazz ensembles, and choirs, MEFA brings together music groups from all over the country—with schools travelling from as far as Nelson, Tauranga, and Auckland.
Throughout the week, participating ensembles attend coaching sessions with expert guest tutors and present a prepared programme of music to a live audience, which is adjudicated and graded.
Our choir, Ngā Manu Tioriori, presented a polished four-song programme. Their set blended two favourite pieces performed at The Big Sing earlier in the year with two brand-new songs mastered in Term 3.
To learn their new repertoire, the choir gave up extra lunchtimes for rehearsals, putting in the hard work required to deliver an excellent performance. A highlight of the festival was working alongside guest tutors from Auckland on their new piece, ‘Time’, as well as participating in interactive choir workshops and coaching sessions. In a follow up report from Adjudicators our hard working choir recieved a Gold award! Teacher and Choir Leader, Olivia Fraser Morris praised their dedication. “…I was really proud to see how far they have come in just a year. It is a true testament to their commitment and passion for music.”
A Debut Silver for Our Studio Orchestra
We are also proud to celebrate the debut of our new Studio Orchestra, directed by staff member, Justin Pearce. MEFA marked the ensemble’s very first public performance, and they got off to a flying start by earning a Silver award!
A big congratulations to all of our performers for representing Onslow so well.